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State news: Microreactors, legislation, executive orders, and more
Discussions and actions on nuclear energy have penetrated several state capitol buildings, congressional hearings, and industry gatherings across the United States this month, including in Alaska, Connecticut, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and New York.
A. Talamo, A. Bergeron, S. Mohanty, S. N. P. Vegendla, F. Heidet, B. Ade, B. R. Betzler, K. Terrani
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 196 | Number 12 | December 2022 | Pages 1464-1475
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2021.1977078
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This study focuses on the calculation of the energy deposition in the Transformational Challenge Reactor by two major Monte Carlo codes: Serpent and MCNP. The first software computation relies on Kinetic Energy Released per unit Mass (KERMA) factors while the second one relies on Q-values. The results from these two independent computation methodologies are in very good agreement; however, Serpent runs much faster than MCNP (for the same computational model) and allows for a detailed energy deposition distribution from a 1-mm-side square mesh with a relative statistical error between 0.5% and 1%. This detailed energy deposition is suitable for multiphysics analyses aimed at design optimizations. In order to calculate the energy deposition, Serpent needs enhanced ACE files (distributed by the software developers). Unlike other Monte Carlo software that uses inputs based on Python or Java languages, the Serpent input syntax is very similar to that of MCNP; a Python script can convert a MCNP input to a Serpent input in seconds. For simulations not requiring the calculation of the energy deposition, Serpent can also read nuclear data from MCNP ACE files, which eventually improves the comparison of the results of the two codes.